At least 7,670 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in Syria since the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government and the establishment of a new transitional authority, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has documented in a new report.
According to the war monitor, the number includes more than 2,130 “extrajudicial executions” and “identity-based killings.” It warned of a “pattern of organized violence” across the country. The SOHR report documents “the killing of 7,670 people across Syria from 8 December 2024 to 6 June 2025,” adding that among those killed are “5,784 civilians, including 306 children and 422 women.”
SOHR warned that “this grim toll is a result of ongoing violence and violations by local and external parties, alongside widespread security chaos,” which reflects “the fragility of the security situation and the increasing danger to the most vulnerable constituents of society.”
The over 2,130 executions were “committed in brutal ways.”
In March this year, Syrian government forces carried out a series of brutal massacres targeting Alawite civilians on the Syrian coast. Damascus said it would launch a probe, the results of which have not been made clear. SOHR says “1,726 liquidations” were recorded during the March massacres against Alawites.
Unofficial estimates at the time said the number could be way higher, possibly several thousand. The killings were carried out in response to an armed uprising against security forces launched by elements of the former government’s armed forces.
The UK-based monitor went on to say that since the collapse of the Assad government, 1,886 non-civilian combatants have been killed, including 496 members of the Syrian Defense and Interior Ministries. Additionally, 627 members of various armed factions, many linked to the new authorities in Damascus, were also among those killed.
Over 250 members of the US-backed Kurdish militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have been killed as well, according to SOHR. SOHR notes that 75 percent of all the deaths are civilians.
The new Syrian army is dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former Al-Qaeda branch with a history of war crimes and violent, sectarian ideology. Several other extremist factions, including notorious groups such as Jaish al-Islam, have been incorporated into Damascus’s forces as well.
Alawites continue to be targeted by Syria’s military and groups under its command. In the last five days, at least 18 Alawites have been killed in a new wave of violence targeting the minority group.
Meanwhile, the country faces a widespread Israeli occupation and regular bombardment. The new SOHR report comes as Syria is being pulled out of years of isolation – with the US, UK, and EU taking steps to lift the sanctions on the country, which had been imposed for 14 years.
The EU is set to provide Syria with nearly $200 million (€175 million) to boost reconstruction, the health sector, agriculture, and the country’s economy, EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica announced while visiting Damascus on 4 June.
Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa – a former Al-Qaeda and ISIS chief who went by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani – has met with world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump.
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